City To Host Coveted International Event

HONOLULU - KITV.com

Honolulu has been selected to be the site for the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation's summit in 2011, which likely will be the largest international event ever to be held in Hawaii.

It's expected to be a big economic boost and provide huge publicity benefits to the islands.

President Barack Obama announced Hawaii's winning bid Saturday during a speech at this year's APEC leader's meeting being held in Singapore.

"When he made that announcement -- unbelievable," Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.

Hanneman helped negotiate the deal.

"I think this is going to be great for us," Hannemann said. "It goes beyond the image that most people have that we are just sun, sand, sea and surf and spirit of Aloha," Hannemann said.

The Hawaii meetings scheduled for Nov. 12-20, 2011, at the Hawaii Convention Center will bring 21 heads of state to the island and is expected to draw more than 20,000 people to Honolulu.

East-West Center President Charles Morrison, who coordinated the Honolulu bid for APEC 2011 and who is currently attending the APEC meetings in Singapore, said the well-organized bid package helped in the decision.

"When the White House events person came out to look at the Hawaii sites and also the competing sites, in Hawaii he went straight from a meeting with the governor over to a meeting with the mayor, and you just can't have that in a place like California," Morrison said.

The last time Honolulu hosted a comparable international government meeting was the Asian Development Bank in 2001.

The meeting drew protesters but it was for the most part a peaceful event.

Demonstrations are expected at APEC and Hannemann hopes to have federal funding to help pay for the extra security needed to secure the summit.

"We've got a whole two years to prepare to make sure when it happens here, President Obama and others will look very good in making that selection," Hannemann said.

Obama is likely to attend the 2011 meetings.

The last time the U.S. hosted the APEC meetings was on Blake Island, Wash., in 1993.

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